Reciprocal Relationship Between Resilience and Professional Skills: A Longitudinal Study With Social Work Students

Abstract

This study analyzed the relationship between the resilience developed by social work students and the professional skills acquired during their university degree program. A longitudinal study was conducted over 4 academic years. Participants were 73 social work students at the University of Malaga (Spain). The results show a gradual increase in the development of resilience and in the acquisition of professional skills among the students during the 4-year period. Panel model analysis shows that the two processes were stable and reciprocal throughout the social work training process. The results suggest that resilience had a stronger effect on professional skills than the latter had on resilience. In conclusion, resilience is a relevant component of university training of future social workers.Resilience has been defined as a process of successful adaptation to adversity (Zautra, Hall, & Murray, 2008). The term originated in physics but has become a construct in social science that describes the ability of people to develop and become psychologically healthy and successful, despite being exposed to adverse situations that threaten their integrity (Rutter, 1993). The development of resilience is a dynamic, constructive, interactive, and sociocultural process that optimizes human resources and makes it possible to overcome adverse situations (Kotliarenco & Cáceres, 2011). As a capacity that is modifiable rather than static, resilience depends on the interaction of the individual with his or her immediate environment (Luthar & Zelazo, 2003). Understood in this sense, this process is not dissimilar to the processes designed to develop skills in higher education.University education confronts students with many demands and challenges that can lead to feelings of vulnerability and affect their adjustment to university life and academic success. These challenges and opportunities enable students to identify and put into action not only their own academic skills but also psychosocial ones. Resilience has a fundamental role among these skills, yet it has been little studied in the specific setting of higher education or in educational institutions in general (Haz & Castillo, 2003).Until now, research on resilience in the university setting has mainly focused on the study of this capacity in students and its relationship with other social and demographic variables, such as age, socioeconomic status, and gender (Nota, Soresi, & Zimmerman, 2004;Wasonga, Christman, & Kilmer, 2003). In general, these studies have found no differences associated with age or socioeconomic levels in the processes of resilience shown by students (Prado & Del Águila, 2003;Saavedra & Villalta, 2008). Regarding gender, the results are contradictory. Zapata (2013) reported that some studies found that women had higher levels of resilience than men, whereas other studies found no differences between genders. Adjustment to university life and academic success in a university requires high levels of resilience (Miller, 2002;Munro & Pooley, 2009), and the ...

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Psikolojik Sağlamlıklarının Açıklanmasında Bilinçli Farkındalığın ve Çeşitli Demografik Değişkenlerin Rolü

“…According to another result of the research, the increase of the participants' grade level explains their resilience significantly and positively. Researches conducted on this subject found that the resilience of university students increases as their ages increase (Durmuş and Okanlı, 2018;Kılıç and Alver, 2017;Palma-García, Jacinto and Hombrados-Mendieta, 2018). Therefore, it can be said that the results mentioned are consistent with the results obtained from this research.…”

Resilience and its associated factors in brain tumor patients in Karachi, Pakistan: An analytical cross‐sectional study

“…It is important to realize that both household and occupational responsibility may have a two‐way relationship with resilience, whereby lack of resilience may prevent individuals from seeking or persevering with responsibility and lack of responsibility may reciprocally weaken resilience. A similar reciprocal relationship has been observed between resilience and professional competence 28 ,. 29 Competence in one's professional career is a significant predictor of resilience, which allows individuals to overcome adversity and achieve success in the workplace, 29 while preserving mental well‐being 30 .…”

Brazilian Child Protection Professionals’ Resilient Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…CPPs in isolated communities may have access to fewer resources and increased caseloads. Second, our study cannot draw conclusions about how engaging in resilient behaviors impacts the professionals and the children they support ( Palma-García, Gómez Jacinto, & Hombrados-Mendieta, 2018 ), both during the pendency of this pandemic and after it concludes. Third, we do not consider here many aspects of the work environment that may play a role in professionals’ success, including provision of necessary protective gear during a pandemic, job flexibility, and open and honest communications about mental health.…”